APRIL FOOL’S DAY: HOW DID IT BEGIN?

Every prankster’s favorite day, April 1 – or widely known as April Fool’s Day, has somehow become a culturally and annually celebrated day to pull jinks and jokes. You might want to be skeptical since hoaxes and pranks are quickly going around today. It might also get you to wonder how all these pranks started? And why April 1 out of all days around the year? Let’s get some facts straight, and… don’t worry, no jokes here!

Although there is no legitimate history on how this infamous prank day began, some historians believed this went way back to Roman tradition to celebrate the Hilaria around March 25, a spring festivities that included games, during which disguised commoners to imitate devious nobility ends. However, since there was no proof that this ancient festivity’s similarities refer to modern April Fool’s Day, its legitimacy is questioned, as the first mentions of the holiday didn’t appear until several hundred years later. 

The earliest documented reference of April Fool’s Day from Eduard de Dene, a Flemish writer, is going around and is believed to be one of the proofs to April Fool’s history. In 1561, he wrote a poem about a man who sent his servant on mysterious errands all day on April 1. The servant eventually realized that he was part of an April 1 joke as the day went by. Many western countries have adopted April 1 as a National Holiday and (obviously!) played pranks throughout the day. These people, oddly enough, were then called ‘April Fools.’

The pinpoint history of April Fool’s Day doesn’t stop there! Some also speculate that April Fool’s Day began in 1582 when Pope Gregory XIII ordered France to switch from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar. In the Julian Calendar, the new year started around April 1. Sadly, some people who failed to reckon that the start of the new year had moved to January 1 continued to celebrate it during the last week of March through April. Yet, as much as we love the day to loosen up and pull some jokes, it is not considered a holiday in Indonesia. But this does not stop youngsters who seem to love the idea of pulling tricks and whatnot to their fellows. 

April Fool’s Day is treated at a whole new level in many other countries. For instance, in France, April Fool’s is more known as ‘April Fish’ (poisson d’avril), where they intend to attach a paper fish on people’s backs without being noticed. Things get more heated in Ireland. Every April 1, they would have someone bring a letter to one person, just to have a note inside saying: “Send the fool farther.” The receiver would then tell the messenger to bring it to another person, and as you expected, the fool indeed goes along the way. 

However, despite various sources, there’s still a lack of concrete evidence on how April Fool’s Day has developed over the years. Through centuries of evolution, April Fool’s Day has changed according to its historical environment, making it inevitable to provide the ultimate scenario of April Fool’s Day. Don’t you think it is still fascinating how we deeply engage in the activity of an unknown history? It makes you wonder why we began to pursue the tradition in the long term and still have no idea the reason why we keep doing it. So, before you begin your own April 1 mischievousness, try asking yourself, why?

References

Specktor, B. (2022). April Fools’ Day: How Did It Start, and Why Is It April 1?. RD.com. https://www.rd.com/article/origin-of-april-fools-day/  

Pelzer, K. (2022). Who Were the First Pranksters? No Jokes Here—All About the Origin of April Fools’ Day!. Parade. https://parade.com/985732/kelseypelzer/april-fools-day-origin/

History.com Editors. (2022). April Fool’s Day. HISTORY. https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/april-fools-day